Design Characteristics, Content Quality, and Credibility Indicators of Online Infographics for Contact Lens Wearers

This study aimed to assess the design, scientific accuracy and clinical usefulness of freely available online infographics as educational tools addressed to contact lens wearers.

A Google search was conducted to collect static non-interactive infographics related to contact lens wear and maintenance. A 25-item ad hoc non-validated rubric was employed by two assessors to evaluate eligible Google Images results, selected using a convenience-based stopping rule, in terms of overall description (5 items), scientific and clinical content (9 items) and design (11 items).

A sample of 200 infographics was included in the study. The main sources of the infographics were commercial (30.5%), unknown (26.0%) and healthcare center (22.5%). Most infographics lacked credibility indicators such as authorship, publication date or references. Median scientific accuracy and expert-rated clinical usefulness were 9.5 and 9 (on a 0-10 scale), with differences in both items depending on the source (p<0.001). Search engine order of appearance was weakly correlated with scientific accuracy (rho=-0.273, p<0.001) and clinical usefulness (rho=-0.369, p<0.001). Overall, graphic design choices such as use of color, typography and layout were adequate. Information saturation was not correlated with scientific accuracy (rho=0.157, p=0.026).

This study evaluated existing online infographics. Overall, graphic design choices, scientific accuracy and clinical usefulness were adequate, although areas for improvement were detected in the availability of credibility indicators, such as the lack of authorship and publication details, insufficient supporting references, and use of technical jargon. Further research should explore the actual effectiveness of infographics among contact lens wearers.